Advice on replacing 94-97 Accord muffler? Dealing with rubber hangers?

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but when I got a Honda
Lifetime Warranty muffler for my old Civic Si, and then wore *it* out,
the free replacement was much cheaper and didn't have much of a warranty.

 

Weird. I've had at least two "warranty" replacements of replacement OEM
Honda mufflers. Both of those were absolutely free to me, and the next one
will be as well.

Are you sure the replacement you got was actually OEM? Did it is have a
Honda part number? Don't put it past the dealership to try to sell you an
aftermarket one instead of OEM.

 

Weird. I've had at least two "warranty" replacements of replacement OEM
Honda mufflers. Both of those were absolutely free to me, and the next one
will be as well.

Are you sure the replacement you got was actually OEM? Did it is have a
Honda part number? Don't put it past the dealership to try to sell you an
aftermarket one instead of OEM.

 

Tegger says...

Well, I've been unable to find a friend with a floor jack
and jack stands, so it looks like I'll be getting the
muffler replaced "professionally."

But I want to be sure I understand what the guarantee is on
a Honda muffler.

If I have the dealer do the work, the price I was quoted was
$364 plus tax, which is $219 for the muffler and $145 labor.
And at least verbally they confirmed that would be a full
lifetime warranty, parts and labor. I assume that would be
in writing at some point.

If I have the Four Star Honda/Accura local repair shop do
it, the price will be about $275 total. They confirmed
they will get a Honda muffler from the dealer, and they say
it's a lifetime warranty, but the guy I talked to said he
thought it was just the part, not labor. But he's going to
check on that. It makes sense, though, since you wouldn't
expect Honda to reimburse a local repair shop for labor.

But other scenarios arise if Four Star does this work.
Would a dealer honor at least the part warranty, so if I
move to another city I would at least have something to fall
back on? Is there a chance the dealer would cover labor on
the future replacement too even though a non-dealer did the
original installation?

It's just a shame I can't do this myself. I mean, it's two
bolts and three hangers. Just a real shame. Maybe I need
to advertise on Craiglist for a guy with jacks and jack
stands to help me.

Anyway, I appreciate everyone's advice and warnings about
working under the car safely. It just kills me another way
not to be able to do this myself.

 

Tegger says...

Well, I've been unable to find a friend with a floor jack
and jack stands, so it looks like I'll be getting the
muffler replaced "professionally."

But I want to be sure I understand what the guarantee is on
a Honda muffler.

If I have the dealer do the work, the price I was quoted was
$364 plus tax, which is $219 for the muffler and $145 labor.
And at least verbally they confirmed that would be a full
lifetime warranty, parts and labor. I assume that would be
in writing at some point.

If I have the Four Star Honda/Accura local repair shop do
it, the price will be about $275 total. They confirmed
they will get a Honda muffler from the dealer, and they say
it's a lifetime warranty, but the guy I talked to said he
thought it was just the part, not labor. But he's going to
check on that. It makes sense, though, since you wouldn't
expect Honda to reimburse a local repair shop for labor.

But other scenarios arise if Four Star does this work.
Would a dealer honor at least the part warranty, so if I
move to another city I would at least have something to fall
back on? Is there a chance the dealer would cover labor on
the future replacement too even though a non-dealer did the
original installation?

It's just a shame I can't do this myself. I mean, it's two
bolts and three hangers. Just a real shame. Maybe I need
to advertise on Craiglist for a guy with jacks and jack
stands to help me.

Anyway, I appreciate everyone's advice and warnings about
working under the car safely. It just kills me another way
not to be able to do this myself.

 

You already have a jack; the one in your trunk. Find some bricks, 2x6
boards, etc. Now invest in some ramps for the front end. You'll get
your $ back, and then some instantly. Assuming you're paying someone to
change the oil, etc., the savings will continue forever.

 

You already have a jack; the one in your trunk. Find some bricks, 2x6
boards, etc. Now invest in some ramps for the front end. You'll get
your $ back, and then some instantly. Assuming you're paying someone to
change the oil, etc., the savings will continue forever.

 

It should be on the invoice. In any case, it's SOP for any dealership,
so you shouldn't have a problem

IMPORTANT!
Keep that invoice in the glove box or some other safe place and save
your self a fight in four to seven years.
If you're not a regular at the dealership, you'll likely fall off their
easily-accessible customer list after a few years and they'll have
trouble finding the record of installation if you don't have the
invoice.

That's a **VERY** good question. I don't know if the repair is dealer-
specific or general to any repair shop.

You had better make sure you get this clarified at the dealership,
preferably in writing.

But when you consider the amortization of that extra $89 over four years
(that's a bare-minimum), that's $1.85 a month, or $22 per year. If you
get seven years out of the muffler, then the added cost falls to $1.05
per month, or $12 per year.

If it were me, I'd bite the bullet and get the dealer to do it. It's
safest that way, and you'll end up with OEM fasteners and gasket.

It's like anything else. If you have to tools you can do the job. If you
don't, you can't. Or it's a LOT harder. A kitchen cabinet is just a few
flat pieces of wood and a few screws, right?

 

It should be on the invoice. In any case, it's SOP for any dealership,
so you shouldn't have a problem

IMPORTANT!
Keep that invoice in the glove box or some other safe place and save
your self a fight in four to seven years.
If you're not a regular at the dealership, you'll likely fall off their
easily-accessible customer list after a few years and they'll have
trouble finding the record of installation if you don't have the
invoice.

That's a **VERY** good question. I don't know if the repair is dealer-
specific or general to any repair shop.

You had better make sure you get this clarified at the dealership,
preferably in writing.

But when you consider the amortization of that extra $89 over four years
(that's a bare-minimum), that's $1.85 a month, or $22 per year. If you
get seven years out of the muffler, then the added cost falls to $1.05
per month, or $12 per year.

If it were me, I'd bite the bullet and get the dealer to do it. It's
safest that way, and you'll end up with OEM fasteners and gasket.

It's like anything else. If you have to tools you can do the job. If you
don't, you can't. Or it's a LOT harder. A kitchen cabinet is just a few
flat pieces of wood and a few screws, right?

 

This advice is so astonishingly bad I'm left wondering if "Greg" is a
troll.

 

This advice is so astonishingly bad I'm left wondering if "Greg" is a
troll.

 

First, rest assured that you made the right decision. You can always
make more money to pay for repairs when you're alive and well.

Where do you live? The BMWCCA hooks up members with each other for
stuff like this. Maybe there's a Honda equivalent.

I understand completely. I felt the same way last week when I actually
paid for a car repair, but the tools required would probably never pay
me back and the repair was far cheaper than the tools (25-30% of the
cost of the tools, in fact).

 

First, rest assured that you made the right decision. You can always
make more money to pay for repairs when you're alive and well.

Where do you live? The BMWCCA hooks up members with each other for
stuff like this. Maybe there's a Honda equivalent.

I understand completely. I felt the same way last week when I actually
paid for a car repair, but the tools required would probably never pay
me back and the repair was far cheaper than the tools (25-30% of the
cost of the tools, in fact).

 

september.org:

I think it depends on how dedicated you are to the idea of doing your own
repairs.

I see my tool purchases as investments for the future. The amount of money
I save in doing my own work means I have lots of cash available to allocate
towards new tools.

Plus -- and I must be crazy -- I actually LIKE working on my car, even when
what I'm doing is something scarily new to me and which at first appears to
go horribly wrong until I eventually figure it out, after which there's an
elation that beats chemical intoxication...

If you don't see yourself doing lots of your own work past, say, light bulb
changes, just get the pro's to fix your car. Nothing wrong with that at
all. I don't do my own roofing or windows; I pay pro's to do that.

 

september.org:

I think it depends on how dedicated you are to the idea of doing your own
repairs.

I see my tool purchases as investments for the future. The amount of money
I save in doing my own work means I have lots of cash available to allocate
towards new tools.

Plus -- and I must be crazy -- I actually LIKE working on my car, even when
what I'm doing is something scarily new to me and which at first appears to
go horribly wrong until I eventually figure it out, after which there's an
elation that beats chemical intoxication...

If you don't see yourself doing lots of your own work past, say, light bulb
changes, just get the pro's to fix your car. Nothing wrong with that at
all. I don't do my own roofing or windows; I pay pro's to do that.

 

Well, those first two sentences are just plain scary. The ramps are a
useful idea though.

 

Well, those first two sentences are just plain scary. The ramps are a
useful idea though.

 

I have always done this on a dollar basis. My payback period on tools
used to be 10 years. Lately, I've been oscillating between 5 and 10
years. The repair I just paid for was the first non-warranty mechanical
repair I did not do myself in a very, very long time. My guess, though
it's impossible to predict, is that the tools would not have paid me
back in well over 10 years. I'm fast approaching the age where the
window of utility is getting perceptibly shorter, and a 20-year payback
probably makes little sense. And I didn't know anyone I could borrow
them from, either.

Do you own a tire machine and spin balancer? A full-size hydraulic
lift? A 4-wheel alignment rack? A valve refacer? A cylinder head
resurfacer? A crankshaft grinder? A frame machine? A paint booth for
clearcoat? Outside the businesses that can afford them, I suspect not,
and I further suspect we're talking about *where* we each choose to draw
the line, not *whether* we choose to draw the line. Were I a
billionaire, I'd have a really cool garage, just for fun, but...

Yup. Same here.

Oddly enough, I do my own roofing and most interior renovation work, but
draw the line at windows. Not because I can't, but because I don't want to.

 

I have always done this on a dollar basis. My payback period on tools
used to be 10 years. Lately, I've been oscillating between 5 and 10
years. The repair I just paid for was the first non-warranty mechanical
repair I did not do myself in a very, very long time. My guess, though
it's impossible to predict, is that the tools would not have paid me
back in well over 10 years. I'm fast approaching the age where the
window of utility is getting perceptibly shorter, and a 20-year payback
probably makes little sense. And I didn't know anyone I could borrow
them from, either.

Do you own a tire machine and spin balancer? A full-size hydraulic
lift? A 4-wheel alignment rack? A valve refacer? A cylinder head
resurfacer? A crankshaft grinder? A frame machine? A paint booth for
clearcoat? Outside the businesses that can afford them, I suspect not,
and I further suspect we're talking about *where* we each choose to draw
the line, not *whether* we choose to draw the line. Were I a
billionaire, I'd have a really cool garage, just for fun, but...

Yup. Same here.

Oddly enough, I do my own roofing and most interior renovation work, but
draw the line at windows. Not because I can't, but because I don't want to.

 

If the idea of buying OEM is to get the same thing one gets with the
original equipment, it only stands to reason that the warranty for the
the original equipment be the same as the OEM replacement parts.

In effect, the warranty is somewhat limited.